FLORENCE– For the first time ever Florence will be one of 18 teams represented in the World Series after the 12U team won the Cal Ripken Southwest Region that was played last week in Madisonville, Louisiana. Prior to the regional win the team won the Alabama State Championship with an 18-0 semifinal win against Matthews Park and a then went on to beat Phenix City 8-1 in the finals.
Leading these 12 young men are coaches Parke Cochran, Billy Reid, and Ty Watson.
“The state competition is super strong in Alabama,” said Reid. “We’ve been knocking on the door, and this year we busted through. Strong opponents make you better and toughens the team.”
With a brief downtime between State and Regionals, the team relaxed and focused on themselves and the same message was repeated by the coaches to the team after the Regional.
“We are the first team from our town to win the 12u regional and of course the first one to get the opportunity to come to the World Series, “ said Coach Reid. “Everyone has been so supportive, and we can’t wait to follow the rest of the journey.”
Cal Ripken flew the team from Nashville, TN to Philadelphia, PA today. Upon landing they went to Baltimore, MA to be fitted head-to-toe for new uniforms, courtesy of Under Armor, and Rawlings generously provided catching equipment and batting helmets. The team will proudly wear these for the first official time during Opening Ceremonies July 29, at 5:00 PM EST.
Team members are: Joshua Bowerman, Charlie Cochran, Brantley Crawford, Jess Johnston, Preston Junkin, Banks Langston, Caleb Mahan, William Musgrove, Walton Reid, Aaron Skipworth, Noah Toney, and Cody Watson.
The Florence 12U team, aka SOUTHWEST, is in the American | A Division. All games can be watch live at sfmsports.net and Florence’s schedule is as follows:
Maryland State July 30 3:00 PM.
New England July 31 10:00 AM
Midwest Plains August 1 3:00 PM
Pacific Southwest August 2 12:30 PM
On August 4, the Iron Bracket and Championship Bracket play will begin. Championship weekend, August 5 and August 6, will be featured on Fox Sports 2, www.foxsportsgo.com and www.mlb.com. Semi-finals will be played on August 5 and the finals will showcase the International Champion vs the US Champion.
The other teams completing in this year’s Babe Ruth League | Cal Ripken World Series are:
AMERICAN NATIONAL INTERNATIONAL
New England | Dover, NH Southeast |Atlantic Beach, FL Dominican Republic Mexico
Maryland State | Cooperstown, NY Ohio Valley | Lexington, KY Puerto Rico Australia
Pacific Southwest | Hawaii Pacific Northwest | Kennewick, WA Japan Canada
Southwest | Florence, AL Harford County | Aberdeen, MD New Zealand Republic of Korea
Midwest Plains | Denver, CO Middle Atlantic | Marlton, NJ
MediaRelease/Blue Olive/Angela Rogers | Accounting & Procurement
